THE ORIGIN OF THE APPLE OR THE DISCOVERY OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Is the original apple, the apple of Adam and Eve, just a myth, a legend? The Origins of the Apple or the Discovery of the Garden of Eden takes us at the borders of Central Asia, on the slopes of the Tian Shan in Kazakhstan where the first apple trees were born, well before man, 165 million years ago. Called Malus sieversii, they grow in thick forests of trees, all different from each other, some of them being three hundred years old and sometimes more than thirty meters high. Edible and delicious, in its shapes and colours, the wild apple Malus sieversii has this special characteristic of being naturally resistant to the traditional pathogens of the domestic apple, including apple scab.
2010, France, 54 min.
Prod.: Kirkor Kalayciyan
Script / Dir.: Catherine Peix
Music: Kuat Shildebayev
Catherine Peix
Having studied and taught biology, Catherine Peix decided in the mid 1980s to devote herself to film and documentary. For twenty years she worked with leading directors (Jean-Marie Poire, Tim Haines, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Jean Becker, Ralph Parsons, Pedro Almodovar...) as chief editor and director. In 2004, she conducted a major survey on The Origins of AIDS, which allowed her to combine her passion for filmmaking and her scientific knowledge. Then, for The Origins of the Apple she spent four years searching for the "original apple" through expeditions and meetings with prominent scientists of Oxford, Cornell Institute and INRA Angers. Currently, Catherine Peix works on the final cut of her new documentary on the contemporary American photographer Joel-Peter Witkin.
Filmography
The Origins of AIDS (2004), The Origins of the Apple or the Discovery of the Garden of Eden (2010).